Record biz tries suing Irish ISPs into submission

The major labels want to see Irish ISPs adopt a "three strikes" policy toward …

The major music labels are committed to the idea of graduated response, but they aren't wedded to any particular method of implementation. In France, disconnecting repeated online copyright infringers has been pushed by legislation. In the US, the RIAA wants ISPs to sign up to a voluntary scheme. But in Ireland, the "sue-them-into-doing-what-we-want" school of thought has triumphed.

The Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) has filed lawsuits against two of the country's largest ISPs, seeking to force compliance with an Internet disconnection scheme. It worked well enough earlier this year, when Ireland's largest ISP Eircom settled a similar case with the industry and agreed to implement a graduated response program. After a third accusation of online copyright infringement, Eircom will disconnect a user's Internet connection.

But neither BT Ireland nor UPC Ireland sound inclined to settle. A UPC spokesperson told the Irish Times that "there is no basis under Irish law requiring ISPs to control, access or block the internet content its users download" and that the ISP would fight the case in court.

The Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland (ISPAI) agrees. In a March statement, the group said, "Irish copyright law provides an avenue for the pursuit of people breaching copyright through the courts... Privacy of user communications is protected in European and Irish legislation. ISPs can not be expected to ignore these merely because it does not suit another private party."

If other ISPs refuse to adopt the graduated response plan, Eircom will be at a competitive disadvantage, so it has been pushing the recording industry to go after the other ISPs. Eircom has not begun disconnecting users, saying that the details are still being worked out, but we suspect that the company would prefer to delay disconnections until a few of the country's other major ISPs are ready to do the same thing.

But with the European Parliament already on record opposing Internet disconnections and France's Constitutional Council taking a dim view of disconnections that happen without judicial oversight, Irish ISPs will be wary. Sure, signing on to the record industry's plan might make one lawsuit disappear, but it invites a host of other legal challenges from subscribers and consumer groups.

These people have got to be stopped plain and simple. Once they get the ISP's they essentially control the internet access, when that happens your dreams of a neutral internet will be gone and everything you say or do will be accessable to them.

From the article:The Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland (ISPAI) agrees. In a March statement, the group said, "Irish copyright law provides an avenue for the pursuit of people breaching copyright through the courts... Privacy of user communications is protected in European and Irish legislation. ISPs can not be expected to ignore these merely because it does not suit another private party."

That last line is especially poignant in that the content holders are expressly trying to push their rights as more important than everyone else's either through legislation or litigation. This seriously must be stopped. Whomever gets the idea that one set of rights trumps another set of rights has become corrupt and needs to be dealt with. Just like the Freedom of Speech brings with it the freedom to be offended, so does the right to privacy bring with it the massive pain in the music industry's ass.

This is just flat ridiculous. I hope that these two ISPs can shut the IRMA up. And after that, I hope to hell that something similar falls down HARD on the RIAA here state-side.

hopefully either BT Ireland or UPC Ireland (or both) will announce that they'll fight this to the bitter end, refusing to disconnect their own users. If all goes well, this would lead to a mass defection of Eircom subscribers. that would make the point nicely, and Eircom would be forced to amend their position.

What will these Jackasses think of next, why not destroy all internet connections and voila we are back to cassette copying. These people are the epitome of greedy bastards, the earth would be better off without their gracious presence. What can we do? Nothing. and that is exactly what we should do. We need to stop giving these assholes the power over us they NEED, money.

Why not a worldwide boycott on all recorded media for a week, no renting DVD's, no Radio, no TV, no theater visits, no buying BD, no download at iTunes, nothing, a worldwide week of fuck the recording industries. Hit them where it hurts, and in this economy keep your damned money and play a game with the family.

These vultures are drunk on their power and money, money we give them,Money they use to influence politicians, money they use to fuck us at every turn, money they will use to spy on you, extort more from you, and failing that they will use the lawyers bought with YOUR money to sue YOU or kick you off the internet, and you funded it. We should not fear the internet because asshole A will sue us if we click on the wrong link.

If you do not stand up now it will be too late, ask Jammie Thomas-Rasset 1.9 million dollars owed for 2000 songs. That seems fair and perfectly balanced.

We The People of the Internet of the Planet Earth need to send a Message to the Recording industries and that message is to fuck off. We do not need you anymore. Your usefulness has ended and all the legal action in the world will not change that. You saw the world changing and like the sphinx you stood immovable and you will be swallowed by the desert. Times changed and you did not it is survival of the fittest not survival of the richest, you fail to adapt your business model and opt to sue the customer who made you what you are instead. You cry poverty when business could not be better.

Lets make it a month starting July 1st I and my family will not do anything that will to aid the recording industries. Do you have the balls to send a message, I cannot do it on my own we need numbers for a message to be heard.

Wouldn't be at all surprised if the Irish government caves. They have a track record about 10 years long of making themselves as attractive as possible to any big agency that might possibly ever give them money (then blowing the money in an extremely unwise manner.).

Plus, music & film piracy is rampant over here. I've seen pirated content displayed in pubs on occasion.

ZakHow you ask? You are a technocrat you have access to the whole world, let your fingers do the talking, then use your mouth tell your friends, send an e-mail to all your contacts. Call everyone on your cell phone. Tell them all to do the same. We do not need everyone to join us this time. Speak out.

Help us send the message to the AA's. Keep your money, they have plenty and continue to extort more, let them know we are not fodder for lawyers. Choice is the only voice of resistance a consumer has exercise yours, and do nothing in July 2009.

Send a message to BIG Media, We are consumers and There are more of us than there are of you.

Originally posted by Zak:Worldwide boycott would be a beautiful thing. But. How do you get average folks on the streets that probably never heard of **AA to participate? Or the zombified crowds with white earphones?

Z.

Hey, this zombie can get plenty of non RIAA/MPAA content for her white earbuds. (no I don't use them, my ears are shaped differently) Podcasts FTW! -Carrie

Eircom has crumbled already and as soon as they begin implementating the three strike action I'm sure a lot of people will jump ship. Doesn't look like the other ISPs are going to be as easy to push over, so Eircom once again you may have dug your own grave. They may have gotten away with this in the early days, but they now need to realise that there are other ISPs around and the consumer now has a choice.

Gone are the days when there was only one service provider. And gone are the undeserved loyalties to the original provider. They've made it clear in recent times that the customer is low on the list of their priorities.

There is no basis in Irish law for them to concede to these demands. And I hope the other ISPs fight this.

We have done this to ourselves.We have given power to the wrong people.And like all of you have said here it's time to take it back, it won't be hard to do music company there power comes from us buying there products as for goverments there in power because of our votes. What all this boils down to is do we have the balls to go against the current (so to speak).Eircom will not do anything now because the other ISP's are saying NO but it's already too late for eircom they have already said in no uncertain terms that money is more important than people.Why cant music and movie industries understand that in this day and age dont hold back on products just put them out accross the globe at the same time it might cut down on the pirates.Look it's a simple case of supply and demand.We the people demand certain things and if we dont get it one way we will get it the other way.